Machine for inspecting, splicing and rewinding motion picture films



A. C. HAYDEN June 9, 1931.

MACHINE FOR INSPEOTING, sPLIcING AND REWINDING MOTION PICTURE FILMS 2 sheetssheet 1 Filed April 6, 1928 Eme/2521 m 6%/ .am

June 9, 1931. A. c. HAYDEN MACHINE FOR INSPECTING, SPLICING AND REWINDING MOTION PICTURE FILMS Patented lvJune 9, 1931 ARTHUR C. HAYDEN, F IBROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS CHINE FOR INSPECTING, SPLICING AND REWINDING MOTION PICTURE FILMS I Application filed April 6, 1928. Serial No: 268,029.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to a machine for use in inspecting, splicing and rewinding motion picture films, and is an improvement upon the machine o disclosed in my copending application Serial N o. 227,074, filed October 19, 1927.

One of the purposes of this invention is to provide means for facilitating severing of the film, adjustment of the film with respect 1o to a guide to leave a proper margin at an end of the film to have the emulsion scraped therefrom, and means for throwing light on the place where these operations take place, the light being thrown in such a fashion that lo it can clearly be seen whether or not all of the emulsion from said margin is removed. This is essential for proper splicing of ends of the film.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide means for facilitating holding of overlapped end portions of the film in proper position to be spliced together, and means for throwing light on the spliced portions to ascertain whether or not there are white lines or other indications of improper splicing.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the following description of a good form thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a plan of the table and parts associated therewith;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the presser for holding overlapped ends of the film together while the cement between them is setting;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the table, and a side elevation of the shelf and cutter;

Fig. 5 is a plan of the shelf on the table carrying the guide and cutter, a portion of a film being shown in dotted lines between the guide and shelf;

Fi 6 is a view showing end portions of a film efore and after being spliced; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the tool for scraping the emulsion from the margin of an end of the film.

Referring to the drawings, the machine shown therein as one embodiment of the invention comprises a suitable support, in the mi present instance including a base 1 (Fig. l)

having an inclined standard 3 mounted thereon, said base being provided with recesses 5 and 7 for receiving a water containing bottle 9 and a cement containing bottle 11. These bottles have suitable Stoppers provided with brushes.

The standard has a bearing receiving a lower spindle 13 and a bearing receiving an upper spindle 15. Fast on the spindle 13 is a pinion 17 meshing with a gear 19 mounted on a stud shaft 21 on the standard, said gear being provided with a handle 23. Fast on the spindle 15 is a pinion 25 meshing with an idler gear 27 on a stud shaft 29 on the standard, :said idler gear in turn meshing with a gear 31 on a stud shaft 33 on the standard, said gear 31 being provided with a handle 35. Reels 37 and 39 'are carried by the spindles 13 and 15 respectively, said reels being of the usual construction used in motion picture cameras and projectors.

The construction is such that the operator may grasp the gear handle 23 to rotate the reels in one direction, and may grasp the gear handle 35 to rotate the reels in the opposite direction. The construction thus far described may be similar to that disclosed in my aforesaid application, to which reference may be had for further details thereof.

The film may be fed. from reel to reel over a table 41 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted on the standard, said table being inclined to facilitate operations thereon.- rlhe table has an elongated aperture 43 therein of a length somewhat greater than twice the Width of the film. At the upper edge of the table is a guide 45, and at the lower end of the table is a guide 47 having grooves substantially equal to the width of the film, and serving to guide the film over the right hand portion of the aperture 43. These grooves have shoulders 49 of a width equal to marginal portions of the film containing the sprocket holes, the construction being such that the portion of the film intermediate said-marginal portions and having the negatives thereon, does not come in contact with the guides, and thus there is no danger of scraping or marring the negatives as the film is fed from reel to reel over said guides.

Pins 51'and ins -53 are located. on the table above and eneath theaperture43 and in roper ositions for entrance into sprocket ho es of t e film. The guides project sufficiently above the table to plrevent the pinsv from entering the sprocket oles of the film when the film is fed across the table forainspection.

Beneath the table is a bracket 55 (Fig. 1) havin spring cheeks 57 with inner nlckel plate or other refiector surfaces. The construction is such that a tubular electric light lamp bulb 59 may be pressed in between and be gripped by the cheeks, thereby securely to hold the same on the bracket. This lamp will serve to illuminate the film above the aperture 43, and facilitate inspection thereof.

A magnifying glass 61 (Fig. 1) is provided on an arm 63 having an end adapted to set in a socket 65 on the table. A sleeve 67 is secured to the arm and has a pin 69 adal ted to engage opposite ends of a shoulder 1 (Fig. 2) on the socket. The magnifying glass may be swung to operative and inoperative positions determined by engagement of the pin with the ends of the shoulder.

In the course of inspection of the film, imperfect portions may be found requiring removal. Next will be described simple and efiicient means for readily removing such portions and for facilitating scraping the emulsion from an end portion ofthe film to preare the same to receive cement for securing ends of the film together.

This means comprises artable or plate 73 (Figs. 1, 4 and 5) mounted on a tongue 75 rojecting from the lower end of the table. Riounted on and fixed to the plate 73 is a guide 77 having an edge 79 parallel to an edge 8l of the plate, said guide being spaced somewhat from the plate, as will be noted in Fig. 4. Cooperating with the latter edge is a cutter, in the present instance in the form of a knife 83 pivotall mounted on a screw 85 and frictionally he d in different positions of adjustment by a coil spring 87. This knife has a cutting edge 89 and a handle 91. A pair of pins 93 are provided on the table and located a predetermined distance from the edge 79 of the ide 77.

Vilen it is desired to remove an imperfect portion of the film, it is grasped and a loop 1s drawnfrom the aperture 43 to the table 73 and inserted underneath the guide 77 with the emulsion side uppermost, and with the to s of the ictures on the film atthe left t( i 5 T en the upper portion a of the lm will be at the left, and the lower portion b of the film will be at the right. The film is adjusted so that two of the sprocket holes therein will receive the pins 93. Next the knife 83 is rocked downto sever the film at the left side of the imperfect portion of the film. The upper film portion a is then removed fromthe table, and the lower film portion b is placed beneath the uide 77 on the table with the emulsion side o the film uppermost and with the bottoms of the pictures at the left (Fig. 5). The film portion is wdjusted'so that the the sprocket holes 1n the film, and the latter ins 93 will enter two of is so placed that the imperfect portion of the film projects to the right beyond the knife, then the knife is brought down to sever the imperfect portion from the film. The next operation is to lift the film from the pins 93 and drawv it to the left an amount equal to the distance between two adjacent Sprocket holes, and press down so that the pins 93 will enter the sprocket holes. The stopper is removed from the water bottle 9 and the brush attached thereto is swept across the margin of the film projecting to the right of the arm of the guide 77 to moisten the emulsion thereon., To scrape the emulsion from this margin of the film, a tool 97 (Fig. 7) is rovided, and has a bevelled scraper end 99. is tool is resented to the film margin and slid along tilie guide edge 79 until the emulsion is scraped from the margin.

It is importa-nt that the emulsion shall be entirely scraped from the margin in order that it may be in condition properly to receive the cement. To throw light on the plate 73, the left portion of the aperture 43 referred to is provided, and mounted above the same over the table is a reflector 101 having a nickel plated or` other suitable reflector surface. The location of this reflector is such that light emerging through the left portion of the aperture 43, will be thrown down onto the plate 73 at the proper angle to enable one to see whether or not all of the emulsion is removed from the margin 95 at one end of the film. It is preferable to operate this machine in a dark room, since localization of the light at the aperture 43 facilitates inspection of the film, and reflection and localization of the light on the plate 73 facilitates the operations at said plate.

The refiector may be provided with a leaf spring 103 having one end thereof attached to the reflector, the construction being such that after severing the film the upper end portion thereof may be slipped in between the leaf spring and the refiector and be prevented from flopping back onto the upper reel. The knife when not in use may rock toward the right (Fig. 1) until limited by engagement with the lower end of the refiector.

After the imperfect portion of the film has been removed and the emulsion scraped from the margin 95 of the lower portion of the film, the latter may be moved up to the table 41 and placed thereon so that the pins 53 on the table will enter sprocket holes in the lm, the location of the lm being ferent positions of adjustment. The right end of the slide is formed to provide a handle 119.

The slide may be shifted somewhat to the left so that the long finger 109 will overlie a margin of the lower portion of the film and prevent it from escaping from the p-ins 53. When in this position the short finger 111 should not extend to a point in line with the right edge of the film.

Now the upperportion of the film held by the leaf spring 103 is placed upon the table, so that a margin thereof of a width equal to the margin 95 of the lower portion of the film will overlie the same, and so that the pins 51 will enter sprocket holes in the upper portion of the film. The slide 107 is shifted further to the left preferably to a positionlimited by engagement of ends ofA the slide slots 115 with the pins 113. The short finger 111 now will hold the upper portion of the film so that it cannot escape from the pins 51.

Mounted in the aperture 43 is a slide 121 of a length somewhat greater than half the length of said aperture.` A handle 125 has one end secured to the slide 121, and extends to the left between the refiector and the table. A button 127 is provided onl a pin 129 on the table, said button being movable to and from a position in which it overlies the slide, the construction being such that when the button is moved away from the slide, the latter may be lifted and removed from the aperture 43 for the purpose of cleaning the slide from time to time.

When the film is being inspected, the handle 125 and the slide are dra-wn to the left of the aperture 43, thereby to allow the light from the lamp to illuminate the film. When itis desired to have the light illuminate the shelf or plate 73, the handle and the slide are shifted to the right to the position shown in Fig. 2, thereby allowing the light to emerge through the left portion of the aperture and be thrown by the refiector onto said plate. Also, the slide should be in this position in order to be beneath the overlapped margins of the upper and lower portions of the film while applying the cement to the scraped margin of the lower portion. To indicate the positions of the slide, the table 41 may have the words viewing and splicing inscribed thereon., and the left end of the handle 125 will register with one or the otherof the words to indicate the two positions of adjustment of the slide.

To apply cement to the scraped Amargin of the lower portion of the film, the. tool may be used to fiex the end of the upper film portion `away from said margin. Then the stopper and brush are lifted from the cement bottle 11 referred to, and cement is applied to the scraped end of the lower film portion, and the end of the upper film portion is allowed tov drop down onto the cement coated margin. j

To hold the spliced ends of the film together while the cement between them sets, a holder or presser is provided comprising a post 131 (Fig. 3) having an arm 133 pivotally mounted thereon. A handle 135 is prof vided at the free end of the arm 133, and is a continuation of a limiting pin 137. A loop or elliptical spring 139 is secured to the arm. This presser is adapted to be rocked to a position so that the spring 139v will overlie the overlapped margins of the ends of the upper and lower portions of the film, and said margins will be confined between said spring and the slide 121. The handle 135 is pressed down sufficiently to elongate the loop spring 139, and in its effort to return to normal position, it will exert a desirable pressure on the film margins. To hold the arm in its active pressing position, a lock ring 141 is, provided on the post 131. which has a notch therein .adapted to receive the heel of the arm when the latter is brought to its inoperative position. When the arm has been brought to its operative position, it may be held by giving the ring a slight rotative ad'ustment which will cause an upper portion -t ereof to come beneath the heel of the arm and prevent the arm from rocking up away from the overlapped film margins. After the cement has set, the ring is given a rotative adjustment so as to release the arm and allow it to be swung to its inoperative position. The presser shown and described herein may be similar to that presented in my aforesaid application. f j

lt will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, .and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine of the character described comprising, in combination, a support, a table on the support having an aperture therein, means to feed film over the aperture, a lamp beneath the table for illuminatingthe film over the aperture, a shelf on the table, a guide on the shelf, said shelf and guide being adapted to receive a film portion between them, a cutter mounted on the shelf for severing the film, a pair of pins on the shelf located a predetermined distance from the guide for entering sprocket holes in the film and deterl mining the width of the lm margin which is to have the film scraped therefrom, a reector for throwin shelf and a s de for the aperture movable to and from a position beneath the film.

2. A machine of the character described comprising, in combination, a support, a table on the support, means to feed film over the table for inspection, said table having an aperture therein, a lamp beneath the table for illuminating the film over the a rture,

a shelf on the table, a vfilm guide an a film cutter on the shelf, and a reflector for throwing light from the lamp onto said guide and cutter.

3. A machine of the character described comprising, in combination, a support, a table on lthe support, means to feed film over the table for mspection, said table having an elongated aperture therein, a. lamp beneath the table for illuminating the lm over the aperture, a shelf, a film guide and a ilm cutter on .the shelf, a reflector. for throwing light from the lamp'onto the guide and cutter, and a slide for the aperture, movable to and from a position beneath the ilm over the aperture.

4. A machine of the character described comprising, in combination, a support, a table on the support having an aperture therein, a lamp beneath the table for illuminating the film over the aperture, pins on the'table at opposite sides of the aperture for'insertion into sprocket holes in end portions of the lm to be spliced, and a slide on the table having a pair of iin ers one longer than the ot erfor holdin t e film onto said pins.

THUR C. HAYDEN.

light from the lamp to the 

